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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 17, 2009

State OSHA investigating yesterday's collapsed cooling tower incident


Advertiser Staff

State health inspectors spent yesterday well into evening investigating the cause of the collapsed cooling tower that killed one man.

The two safety inspectors will continue to investigate the collapse, said Ryan Markham, state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations spokesman.
"In fatality situations, we contact the employers and inform them that there's an investigation," Markham said. "I'm not sure when we'll be able to piece everything together. It's an ongoing investigation. Anytime there's a fatality, we take it very seriously."
OSHA officials look into the cause of the accident to determine the cause, if any health and safety violations were involved and to see if any changes need to be made to the laws to prevent future accidents.
Last year, 23 people died because of a job-related injuries in the islands, compared to 30 in 2006. The most recent job-related death was in October when a man was killed in an explosion at Campbell Industrial Park. The blast was at a 9,500-gallon tank at PSC Industrial Outsourcing Co., of Philip Services Corp.
The man killed then had been welding around the tank just before the blast.